Omni Cyber Security move into Venture House

A Midlands-based cyber security specialist has expanded into new offices in Warwickshire – and is already planning a further move in early 2017.

Omni Cyber Security has moved into two offices at Venture House - Stratford-on-Avon District Council's new state-of-the-art business centre on the Avenue Farm Industrial Estate in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The firm, which previously occupied a shared office in Solihull, is a leading specialist in IT defensive security, offensive security and compliance services and is led by business partners Philip Ridley and Andy Collins.

Its new headquarters, Venture House, opened for business earlier this year following the completion of a major project to turn a redundant council building into a top class facility for small businesses and new business start-ups.

The project has been funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) through an award of £450,000 as part of the Growth Deal initiative, and led by a team from Stratford-on-Avon District Council. The award is part of an overall £89.4 million Growth Deal Package for Coventry and Warwickshire announced in January 2015.

Omni Cyber Security, which is a certifying body of the Government's Cyber Essentials scheme, was among the first businesses to occupy space at the centre and Ridley said the move has worked out extremely well.

"Andy and I are both from Stratford and we'd been looking for office space in the area for quite some time," he said.

"It's no secret private commercial space which is affordable is quite hard to come by, so to find Venture House suited us perfectly. At our stage of development the centre works extremely well for us and will help us to take the company to the next level.

"We've been operating for two years now and have grown consistently during that time. We now have a team of eight and we have fairly ambitious plans to keep growing that way.

"In the near future we'll probably outgrow the centre, which has always been the plan, so in many ways we're a very good example of the type of company Venture House is keen to support."

Venture House provides 2,500 square feet of business space over two floors offering hot-desking, co-working space, self-contained offices, superfast broadband, free business support through the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub, along with conferencing facilities.

Nancy Singleton, centre manager said: “We are delighted that Venture House has provided Omni Cyber Security with a flexible, creative and innovative environment which has helped them to grow their business over the past few months. 

“We want Venture House to be an inspirational platform that supports businesses on their journey and to help them to realise their wider ambitions."

Businesses such as Omni Cyber Security are testimony to this as they have been able to create new jobs as part of their growing business.

Lucy McGovern, CWLEP programme development manager, said Omni Cyber Security is a perfect example of a business Venture House is able to support.

“The CWLEP has identified business start-ups as a key area to drive growth across the region," she said.

“Venture House has been opened to provide a one-stop for start-up businesses and micro companies to help them to grow and create new jobs along the way.

“We're pleased to see Omni Cyber Security is thriving at the centre, with the support of the management team at Venture House, and we look forward to following their progress."

To find out more about Venture House go to www.venturehousestratford.co.uk or contact 01789 207500.